Turkey’s ruling coalition set out to establish control over a key district municipality in Istanbul by hook or crook and on September 8 finally met its objective with last-minute defections.

The management of Uskudar district municipality on the Asian side of the Bosporus in Turkey’s largest city was obtained after a relentless cycle of judicial interventions, police detentions and dramatic floor-crossings, according to local media reports.

A bitter, multi-week political battle for what is one of Istanbul’s most prominent districts reached a dramatic climax at the end of the final straight as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) took the post of mayor with defections.

The takeover ended a standoff that served up weeks of high tension following the arrest and suspension of elected mayor Sinem Dedetas.

July 31 – August 1: Mayor surgically removed

The July 31 arrest of Dedetas, a rising figure in the Republican People’s Party, or CHP (Turkey’s longstanding main opposition party until recent events that saw the establishment of a breakaway party) kicked off a long sequence of fraught battles. On August 1, she was formally removed from office by government decree.

August: ‘Unhelpful’ vote annulled

On August 5, CHP candidate Sibel Tan Cetinkaya won an election at the district parliament to become acting mayor. However, the AKP appealed and the Istanbul governorate annulled Cetinkaya’s election win on the basis of a court decree.

September 2–3: Targeted detentions

Days before the election re-run, on September 2 and September 3, four district parliament members, including deputy mayor Amine Cansu Celik, Mithat Ozdemir, Ekrem Baki and Burak Aydin, were detained under a newly declared probe into Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). Both were then formally arrested.

Ozdemir was released on September 4 while Celik was formally arrested on the same day and Baki was arrested on September 6.

September 3: Crossing the floor

Also on September 3, four CHP members of the district parliament, namely Ahmet Basbaydar, Ayhan Aydin, Huseyin Kazan and Tahsin Usta, defected to the AKP.

Arithmetic shows 21-21 deadlock

Following the defections, the arithmetic at the district parliament meant a 21–21 deadlock in votes between the ruling People’s Alliance (AKP-MHP) and the opposition bloc (CHP-New Party, or YP).

The fact that a coalition was formed by YP and CHP was an interesting affair in itself. YP is the breakaway party that took the title of “main opposition party” when it was launched by former CHP leader Ozgur Ozel.

Ozel was stripped of his place at the helm of CHP by court order. Most CHP MPs quit the party in order to join YP after it was announced by Ozel. As a result, the two parties are naturally at odds and CHP has been siding with the ruling coalition.

For instance, in an election held at Etimesgut district parliament in Ankara, CHP and ruling coalition members voted for the CHP candidate. As a result, the YP candidate lost.

However, in Uskudar, the opposition candidate for acting mayor had remained a CHP member. All opponents of the new management in Uskudar had in fact stayed outside of YP. As a result, YP and CHP acted together in the election.

September 5: Boycott prevents quorum

An opposition boycott on September 5 deprived the district parliament of a quorum by a single vote, forcing the session to be rescheduled for September 8.

September 8: Final strike, with two Trojan horses

Providing a late twist to the drama, Ozgur Celik, YP’s Istanbul provincial head, on September 8 claimed on the district parliament floor shortly before voting commenced that the four defecting members had been whisked out of the city to prevent their families or political colleagues from dissuading them from taking the path of betrayal.

"We know exactly where they are right now," Celik told the district parliament members, adding: "They were taken out of Istanbul with the sole purpose of preventing their relatives and families from making contact with them."

Nevertheless, the 21-21 stalemate was apparently still prevailing – but that was only until another big shock arrived during the voting as initially one, but later two more, opposition members voted for the government candidate.

"We saw that one of our district parliament members defected in the first two rounds and two of our municipal council members defected in the third and fourth rounds," the CHP’s spokesman, Muslim Sari, told reporters following the vote.

"By remaining within the CHP, hiding themselves, acting behind our backs, and not voting for the CHP candidate, they committed a far greater immorality than those who joined the AKP ranks," he added.

Following four rounds of voting accompanied by a heavy police presence, AKP candidate Dundar Ziya Gultekin secured victory with 23 votes.

The bulldozer

It is not only mayors but also many other members of the CHP and YP who are regularly detained, arrested, put on trial or released on every single day that goes by in Erdogan’s Turkey, without an exception.

Since the launch of YP, tracking the judicial operations targeting opposition politicians and officials has become that much harder, given that some CHP members remain loyal to the new CHP management, some remain in the party but oppose its new management and many have quit.

Among those who have walked out, some have joined YP, some have gone independent and some have joined Erdogan’s AKP. Among those keeping tabs on the independent mayors, there are always rumours that some are on the point of joining either AKP or YP. Then there are those who reiterate that they will stay independent.

In essence, Erdogan has bulldozed and dismantled the main opposition. It lies in tatters, in many pieces.